News Headlines:

Modi free to apply for visa: US

30 Oct 2012, 2118 hrs IST, AGENCIES

The
US, which refused visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after the 2002
post-Godhra riots, today said he was free to apply for it now and the system
will take its course, a statement that comes days within the UK ended its
boycott of the state.

US
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake also
maintained that his country has "very good" relations with Gujarat while noting
that it was obviously a "very very important" market for American
companies.

"And in terms of Mr
Modi, I do not want to speculate. He is free to apply for another visa whenever
he chooses and the system will take its course," Blake
said.

He was responding to a
question whether the US will follow suit the UK, which recently ended a
decade-long boycott of Modi following the 2002
riots.

Since the riots, the US
has refused to give a visa to Modi to visit the country. There has been intense
speculation on whether the US would follow the UK after its diplomat met Modi
last week, officially ending the boycott of the
state.

On Modi emerging a force
to reckon with, the US diplomat said he does not want to speculate on the future
outcome of either the state elections or general elections. "Those are internal
matters. Of course, we will work with whoever is elected and put into office,"
Blake told Times Now.

To
repeated questions on whether the US will work with Modi, his standard reply was
that he would not speculate on the future.